Post 1983, BOI is not comprehensive with the top twenty grossers of the year list. Hence the yearly collection list on IBOS has been referred where BOI fails to throw any light. For a few films which feature in the top ten grossers of the year (IBOS lists 50), an above average verdict has been awarded.

Coincidentally mid 1980s is the period when Dharmendra almost became a B-Grade star and starred in a number of obscure flicks.

In this list 78 successes have been listed. However the chances are that the actual number is much higher, as BOI lists the verdicts of only the top-20 grossers of the year.

Films after 1992 (Tehelka) have not been counted. Post this, he truly became a spent force. In his later innings he has starred in successful films like Life in a Metro, Apne, Yamla Pagla Deewana etc.

15 Comments

Yakuza, I know it might be a bit tough, but can you unearth all the trade guide verdicts for the Dharmendra filmography. I am ready to bet he has more than 100 successful films. Truly, an unsung hero who has never been given his due by the media.

Nice post Piyush, Dhram Paaji is the only other star apart from BigB who had this huge connect with the masses. I feel lucky that I was able to see some of their films in the theaters way back in the 80’s.

@Danish, But what do you have to say about his quantum of successes. Maybe 100. More than the total number of films that Salman, SRK, and Aamir have done in their careers till now. I can say that Dharmendra was the biggest BO star ever. But obviously one cannot lose perspective and ignore a lot of other factors. Precisely the reason I said it is impossible to compare actors across generations when scenarios change so much. Even Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra would be tough to compare because of the same reason. But in a comparison between the two, AB will emerge clear winner because of the iconic nature of some of his films, and his later innings, and obviously the fact that he never became a B-grade star and managed his career and image well post 90s- there would be other factors too.

Dharfam Paaji has done some horrible C grade movies in the late 90’s…putlibai & what not.

There is this famous incident where Kanti Shah (Bollywood’s Ed Wood) fooled Dharam into a risque scene with one of the Z listers. Sunny got hold of Shah & beat him all black & blue…the Deol brothers I believe, also burnt the prints.

Exactly, Dharmendra and Rajesh Khanna (to a greater extent) diluted their past achievements because of some terrible decisions and personal life issues. The Rajesh Khanna Havells ad is one of the saddest ads ever! At least Dharmendra has regained a lot of respect in the last 5-6 years.

amitabh total no of sucessful movies are 95 and dhram has around 80. apart from these two no body even touching 40 sucessful movies these two are real super star of indian cinema. rest likes of srk and salmaan ,hritik etc are only media hype. there sucessful movies are around 30 to 35 max.hirtik is around 15.